Moroccan Arabic - Language Resources
HeY there, Rambler!
Are you headed to Morocco and worried about how to communicate with your taxi driver? Or do you already live here and find yourself stressing about how to argue with the Radeema office about your outrageous bill?
Believe me, I get it! And I’m here to help!
So, f you are just traveling to Morocco for two weeks or so, I suggest you pick up a copy of either:
This book simply provides a Darija overview and covers the essential phrases you’ll NEED. It is great if you just want to be able to greet people, ask where the restroom is, or the cost of an item. It is the ideal option for any short term tourist and will still score you more ‘local points’ than if you decide to communicate in French (especially in the old medinas).
This book is only $20.78 USD and is much more comprehensive than the Lonely Planet book. Here, you get not only the phrases you need on the daily, but also a real basis for beginning to understand the structure of Darija. Plus, the proceeds from the sale of this book go to support the publishing program at the International Centre for Performance Studies (ICPS) in Tangier, Morocco. Win, win.
If you’re in the market for a texbook that will get you started down the road to really learning Darija (Moroccan Arabic), then the Peace Corps Textbook is the place to start. It’s a pretty comprehensive overview and even better, it’s free! Keep in mind though, it’s a textbook and can be grammar heavy and dull at times, but it’s a great primer. (Just click on the link above, or the image below and you’ll be taken to another page to start learning!).
If you are really trying to level up your Darija game, then you need to download Anki promptly! Anki is a free language learning software that you simply download to your computer. Also, light-years ago, a Peace Corps Volunteer and his local Moroccan friend kindly went through and recorded the vocals of all the verbs included in the Moroccan Arabic Peace Corps Textbook. Once you download the Anki program, you then need to download this file ——> ( Peace Corps Darija Verbs ) and import it into the Anki software. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a full picture tutorial below!
Step 1: Click on the word Anki above
It will pull up a separate page that looks like this.
You can either begin your Anki download here, or scroll down until you see this.
Step 2: After downloading the software, follow the install directions that pop-up.
It ill look something like this.
After you have downloaded and installed the program an icon that looks like this will appear.
Congrats, you have the Anki program. Now you just need to download the Darija Vocabulary - Verbs deck.
Start by clicking here —> Darija Vocabulary - Verbs. This will open up a separate window that looks like this.
Click download, and it will begin instantly.
Now that you’ve downloaded Anki and the Darija Vocabulary file, you need to know how to use it!
This video will show you how to begin your Darija learning journey with Anki.
I’ve personally used both the Peace Corps Textbook and the Anki program in order to learn Darija and I have found that when I consistently review with Anki, I feel much more confident out and about, and when I slack in my review, it shows on the streets.
Keep in mind, no matter what learning method you choose, language acquisition takes TIME. So give it a try and be patient with yourself!
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